February 18, 1976
Report, Embassy of Hungary in North Korea to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry
Jewdoszczuk, the second highest ranking diplomat of the Polish Embassy, told the heads of the fraternal eight [embassies] the information that they had received from the Polish members of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission. That information summarizes the opinion the South Korean regime has about the military situation and the intentions of the DPRK.
[…]
According to the data of the Far Eastern Institute in Seoul, the DPRK spent 60, 165, 135, and 140 million dollars on the purchase of arms in 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 respectively. During this time the manpower of the army underwent the following changes: it was 438,000 in 1970, 450,000 in 1971, 460,000 in 1972, and 470,000 in 1973. That is, military preparations continued in the period of [North-South] dialogue as well. The army of the DPRK has 1,100 T-55 tanks and a substantial number of surface-to-surface missiles. The DPRK ordered a substantial amount of diving suits and facilities in Japan. […]. The number of MiG fighter planes is 200, but they also have Su-7 [fighter-] bombers.
At present the DPRK wants to construct nuclear reactors, and is having talks about this issue in order to become capable of producing atomic weapons in the future.
[…]
Ferenc Szabó
ambassador
A member of the Polish Embassy reports information on DPRK military expenditures, manpower, and desire to construct a nuclear reactor.
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